Magic Boy

Magic Boy is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Blue Turtle and released in 1993 for both the Super Nintendo and the Amiga. This colorful adventure follows a young wizard on his quest to rescue his girlfriend from an evil sorcerer, combining traditional platform mechanics with magical spell-casting abilities that set it apart from conventional jump-and-run games.

The gameplay revolves around Magic Boy's ability to cast various spells using a unique gesture-based system. Players must draw specific patterns with the controller to unleash different magical attacks, from simple fireballs to more complex transformation spells that can turn enemies into harmless creatures.

Blue Turtle crafted vibrant, cartoon-style graphics that showcase excellent sprite animation and detailed background art. The SNES version benefits from the system's superior color palette. However, the Amiga version maintains its own charm with slightly more fluid animation in certain sequences. Both versions feature imaginative level designs that span diverse environments, including enchanted forests, crystal caves, and haunted castles, each populated with creative enemy designs that range from mischievous imps to towering golems.

The spell-casting mechanics require precise timing and pattern recognition, creating a learning curve that rewards persistence. Magic Boy can learn new spells throughout his adventure by discovering spell books hidden in secret areas, expanding his magical repertoire, and opening new gameplay possibilities.

Level design effectively balances traditional platforming with the unique magical combat system. Stages feature multiple paths and hidden areas that encourage exploration, while enemy placement often requires strategic spell usage rather than simple avoidance. The game's difficulty is relatively high, and the lack of a password system doesn't help.

Magic Boy is a well-designed platformer that is quite entertaining. If it had been released a few years earlier, it could have been a success. Still, in 1993, it had to compete with high-quality platformers like Superfrog and Zool 2, not mentioning masterpieces such as Frontier: Elite II, Cannon Fodder, or Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis. But if you like platformers, it's worth to try it.